The Five Minute Box was developed by Jane Kendall (BA, Dip RSA SpLD), as a multi-sensory system for teaching early literacy skills and assessing children for dyslexia or potential learning difficulties - A Wave 3 Literacy Resource.

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The Five Minute Box

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The Five Minute Box was developed by Jane Kendall (BA, Dip RSA SpLD), as a multi-sensory system for teaching early literacy skills and assessing children for dyslexia or potential learning difficulties - A Wave 3 Literacy Resource.

Detailed Description

The idea of the Five Minute Box as an early intervention and screening tool, grew out of years of experience with primary age children who had failed to master the art of reading and spelling, and who had become disenchanted with the process of learning. By Junior School age, these children needed regular extra teaching and often needed to use expensive resources to motivate them to acquire the skills. Withdrawing children from lessons to teach them basic skills meant that they were missing subjects that they enjoyed.

Early detection of Dyslexia or general learning difficulties means that support and meaningful teaching can be put in place before a child begins to miss out on the teaching that is going on in the Early Years stage of his education.

For any child to succeed they must have good self-esteem, and be taught self-help strategies that will carry them through the years of learning ahead of them.

The need for simple steps learning, linked to a regular, consistent, multi-sensory style of teaching is behind the development of the Five Minute Box.

Used from the age of school entry, the programme of teaching has been designed to cover the basic skills for the acquisition of literacy. It is designed for use by learning support assistants on a daily basis and requires nothing more than time.

Although the basic skills needed by a child to learn to read and write are covered in all Reception classes, there are always a group of children who struggle with the pace of learning. This may be due to dyslexic type difficulties, or to a slower rate of learning. It may be due to a child having had absences from school for illness. The Five Minute Box is designed to supplement the teaching of these skills by giving as much time as each child needs to acquire them. The skills are separated into different areas, so that a child can make progress in one area, while still being allowed time to completely master another area at a slower pace.

Motivation, organisation and self-help strategies are built in to the programme. The recording of progress is shared each session with the child, and progress is divided into small 'milestones'. These stages can readily be shared with parents and are easily monitored by the SENCO and class teacher.

The contents are: -

1 Demonstration CD-Rom

15 Page Resource Book including Assessment Sheets and Keywords Checklist

1 Box containing 26 plastic letters

Sounds Board

9 Keyword Boards

9 Sets of Keyword Cards

3 Handwriting Formation Boards

Number formation Board

Whiteboard and Pen

20 Record of Achievement booklets (photocopiable)

40 Record of Work sheets (photocopiable)

1 Instruction Guide

Plus the designer of The Box at the end of the phone to answer any questions!

The Sounds Board and Keyword Boards are photocopiable so they can be used at home.